All Eyes On Me

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A young Victorian woman is taken by a demented con artist.
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It had started quite simply, really. First, Juliet's cousin Lydia had come over and told of the circus in town. They had gone to call on their mutual friend Kate, and then all three of the ladies had gone down toward the edge of town. The circus only came through once a year, and it was a thrilling place of twisted freaks and daring acrobats. The animals were amazing to look at, fierce African lions and wild Amazonian monkeys. The three ladies clustered close together, but it was clear from the way they interacted that Juliet was the fearless one. She was the one who convinced the other two to walk through the funhouse, and though Lydia and Kate had wanted to skip the hall of mirrors, Juliet had linked arms with them and merrily danced down the avenue of twisted, misshapen reflections. Nothing could scare her, not even the craziness of the circus.

As the night wore on, Kate and Lydia and even Juliet found themselves tiring, each one carrying a small packet of popcorn, and rotund Lydia also carrying a cone of cotton candy. All three of them pulled little pieces from the spun sugar cone, though Lydia would probably get the lion's share. Exhausted but laughing, the three ladies turned their backs on the circus and began to head home once more. The torches were being lit in the streets and it was much later than a lady of decent repute should be out, but the circus was also in town, and that made these things forgivable in the minds of the three young ladies. Their excited chatter and happy laughter rang out down the cobblestoned streets along with their bootfalls.

The evening brought with it its own brand of twisted freaks and daring souls that prayed on the likes of good gentry women. The circus was in town and that meant easy targets, marks that could be picked off and forgotten and their captors and tormentors could melt back into the shadows from whence they came. The bizarre and the unique brought goodly folk from all around the county, to gaze upon earthly wonders that they would never see from the safe, comfortable confines of their locked and guarded havens. As the excitement seemed to turn all common sense on its head and dumb down the populace, one particular man found three easy little targets walking down his cobblestone street, linked arm and arm without a care in the world and no worries floating through their pretty little heads.

A pity that they weren't paying more attention.

Alexander stood on the corner of the street, dressed finely for a man who was walking alone in such a part of the town. Nightfall had come and from the gold gilding on his cane to the silken, tailored cut of his gentleman's coat, he certainly looked out of place but not at all disrespectful. It was all part of the ruse, the stalking of his prey and the luring of them into his clutches. With the right apparel, a fresh shave to his otherwise handsome, youthful face, he could convince even the most stalwart and decent women to do his bidding.

Having money and a small revolver on hand also helped the job.

Tonight, he was going to enjoy himself and start things off simply, a quick flash of a few pounds, an easy offering, and see which of the three little women took him up on it.

He waved to them and whistled low, approaching them slowly, seeming no threat at all. He did look like a gentleman after all, just out from enjoying the circus no doubt.

"My dear ladies, a fine evening if I may say so. I am Alexander Du Manuc and you pretty little ladies have the fortune of hearing a deal, a game, that I am playing. Would any of you care to play?"

All three of them were surprised when the strange man hailed them and approached, though none were frightened. There was safety in numbers, and they weren't overly worried. It was golden-haired Juliet who answered him, however, returning his greeting with a smile on her ruby lips. "Good evening, sir," she greeted in dulcet tones. "I'm Juliet Windfar. This is my cousin Lydia and my friend Kate... we've just finished with the circus so I'm not certain how much luck we'll have with games." She laughed merrily, her green eyes twinkling. The other women were not quite so forthcoming, not quite so interested in meeting a strange man on a desolate street in the middle of the evening. But Juliet, Juliet didn't worry that much. This man seemed reputable, after all, clean and well groomed and courteous.

His smile showed a mouth full of perfectly white teeth, his eyes gleaming like those of a serpent in the glow of the torchlight overhead. He bowed politely at the waist to the trio of young ladies and took up Juliet's hand, kissing it with warm lips. He released her hand and leaned back on his cane, giving the ladies a quick once over. The straight forward and brashness of the golden haired Juliet was certainly peaking his interest but he would make the offer to all three ladies, to see which one was the easiest target. They all had something to offer, even if it was just a few moments of awkwardness and a chuckle on their behalf.

He pulled from his coat pocket a ten pound mark, holding it up between both of his hands so that they could all see it in the fiery light of the street lamps. It looked genuine enough.

"Well you see, my dears, I am a man who practices the boundaries of our polite society and seeks to test it in you. Ten pounds is a handsome sum, is it not? I have ten pounds here for the first lady who is willing to take off her gloves for me. Who will it be?"

Juliet blushed a little as he kissed her hand, perhaps just on cue. She watched the other two out of the corner of her eyes. They seemed just a little more hesitant than she felt. 'Meek little doves,' she sighed mentally. Of course, they thought her foolhardy as well, quite so. It was a point of ribbing between the three of them. Of course, if anyone had asked Juliet whether it was wise to converse with strangers in a dark street as the lamps were being lit and the circus was emptying, she certainly would have told the asker that no, it would be quite foolish. Even more foolish would be to start stripping articles of clothing off in that street, at the behest of said stranger.

However, certain things seem more permissible when caught in the moment, and the game caught Juliet's fancy just then. Perhaps she was a bit punch-drunk from being up so late, or perhaps she felt a little adventurous after being exposed to so many strange things. Whatever the case, she grinned at the man, this Mister du Manuc, and reached for the buttons at her wrists. "Well, that's hardly a game 'tall," she chuckled. "More like a fleecing. Do you take an especial interest in hands, sir, or is there a catch here?" Carefully, she slid the fitted cloth from each dainty finger, the calfskin of her gloves tight enough that it contracted as it slid from her flesh. Once both of the gloves were off, she draped them nicely across one hand, then quirked one arched eyebrow at the gentleman.

"Oh no, my dear, it is merely the testing of the boundaries of society that I am interested in. There is no harm or foul in paying a lovely lady for her time and troubles, is there?"

The ten pound mark was placed firmly in those dainty, lovely hands of hers with another bow and a wink that could mean a plethora of things.

The smile remained and the serpentine gleam in his dark eyes was tempered by a hint of amusement. So, this flaxen haired beauty would be the compliant one tonight, while the other two would probably linger to try and draw her away to safety. A problem, perhaps, but one that was easily rectified by another trick, another game. He leaned forward on his cane, appearing to be pondering and considering his next phase of the game.

"Now, the next part of our game is for only those who would participate. Are you two fine lovelies going to join us or does the evening see you off?"

Juliet laughed as she collected her spoils, tucking gloves and note into her little handbag. When he seemed to want to continue, it was to Kate and Lydia's slight alarm. The two women tugged at Juliet's arms, urging her to come home, to move along. Juliet laughed and pulled her arms away. This man had caught her curiosity now, and she did not feel threatened at all. "We may certainly change our minds if we dislike the nature of the next step, might we?" She did not even wait for him to answer, turning to assure her companions, "Of course we may. I'm certain he's not looking for anything untoward, and most definitely he's not taken us for the kind of women that we are not, isn't that right?" She paused long enough to glance at the man, then inclined her head.

"I'll hear out the next part, yes. My friends will as well," she added, laughing, "because they certainly are not going to leave me alone with a strange man in the streets like this." Her eyes twinkled with amusement, and she could tell by the redness in Lydia's cheeks that she was right. As long as Juliet stayed, they would all most likely stay, and Juliet would not be forced away. She would have to be convinced and cajoled, perhaps bribed a little. For as long as this man seemed reputable and did not spook her, anyhow.

His lips twitched slightly, but that reassuring smile remained on those bloodless lips. He nodded, one hand snaking around to the front of his white coat to retrieve yet another ten pound mark. This one was slightly crumpled but the note was spendable either way. Only the most discerning and trained eyes would have noticed that slight inconsistencies of the high class forgery. Worthless money was worth spending on ladies of worth after all and the deception was lost on them, or so he hoped.

The small revolver in his other pocket could reinforce his demands should money fail to intrigue them any further. Alexander had been at this long enough to know that sometimes money was only of use for so long before the game ended and the real bargaining, one dealing in the currency of lives and threats, began.

He spread his arms wide once more, hovering the note in front of Juliet's beautiful eyes. The softness of her hands gave him an idea of what lay beneath those layers of clothing she wore.

"Ah, yes. The game can stop when the ladies decide, but why let it when there is much fortune to be made? Ten pounds, my dears, for two things, as the game goes on but the price gets higher. First, you tell me everything you are wearing and then, you remove your jackets. Harmless fun, but profitable fun!" Of course they wouldn't recognize the fake note, and why would they? None of them have probably ever seen a forgery in their life. All three of the women listen to him as he presents his case, and two of the three look scandalized. While Lydia and Kate mutter and stutter, Juliet flushes a little, then glances aside demurely. She might have allowed herself to be dragged away, but it was only a little bit of fun and she felt a little bit responsible to see it through, since she had convinced the others to stay.

"Well. Oh my." Feeling a little caught, she temporizes, "Well, I certainly don't remember every single little thing that I put on this morning, but as you can see there is a skirt, a jacket, a blouse. There were gloves." She laughs, and the other two titter softly. Peeling off her jacket, Juliet drapes it also over her arm, revealing a tastefully tiny waist and a lovely blouse buttoned to the neck. With her golden hair twisted back into a chignon, even with the jacket off she looks quite the nice young lady. "What is the purpose of your game?" she asked, laughing.

One out of three was not a bad catch for the evening, he decided, and he leaned forward enough to present the young, comely Juliet with another ten pound mark. The other two women seemed scandalized, perhaps even a touch fearful of the trouble and ruin they might encounter by associating with a stranger who seemed to make a game out of undressing young women with a good amount of money. Alexander smiled softly to Juliet, deciding it best to focus his charms upon her and not the two nitwits that were her companions.

He steepled his hands together, encased in a pair of fine white gloves with brass buttons, and chuckled, nodding his head with its tastefully combed and parted blonde hair up and down. His characteristic serpentine smile remained plastered upon his lips.

"The purpose of the game is to see just how far you will go with the game. The sake of the game is the game itself. Is that not the truth in any pursuit of fun? Well then, we should continue on. The next phase is not for the weak of heart, no indeed, but it does have its higher rewards!"

A twenty pound note, fresh and crisp, appeared from his pocket and he made a big show of presenting it to the waiting eyes of the ladies.

"Twenty pounds, certainly a princely sum, for the first lady to take off her skirt."

Oh, the skirt was just too much for the other two, and Juliet herself balked as well. Invested as she was, even she found herself unwilling to do much more. "I, ah, no thank you," she said, trying to be polite even as her two companions turned and stormed down the street, herding her off. Since they had played along, it seemed utterly boorish to just march off without a proper goodbye, but both Lydia and Kate were having none of it.

Juliet herself hurried down the street with her two companions, struggling to pull her jacket back on as they went. She dropped a glove and paused, turning to scoop the garment back up before it could get too soiled by the cobblestones underfoot. In the meantime, she had to suffer a muttered sermon from Kate, scolding her for her impulsive behavior. "Well, you were standing there, too," she grumbled under her breath, hoping to head off a night-long lecture. Glancing back behind her, she paused and thrust an arm into the jacket. Her companions got a few steps ahead before pausing and turning, looking impatient. "Will you come on?" demanded Lydia.

"Just a moment, I'm trying to get it on," Juliet sighed back exasperatedly.

The decline was a sorrowful note in his ruse but he offered her nothing but a smile and a polite bow. He had played one avenue available to him tonight and the other one, weighing three pounds and carrying six shots of a high caliber, was about to come into play. It was a more brutish method but with the staunch upper lipped women of the conservative society they dwelt in, it was usually more effective, much more effective. He watched as they faded from sight and he took to shadowing them, going down darkened alleyways that he was intimately familiar with. The streets were mostly deserted, giving him more leeway on how he approached them once more. Now, it was time to wait for the opportunity to present itself.

The falling glove and the staggered hesitation to retrieve it on Juliet's part was more than enough for Alexander.

He moved quickly, quietly, to the edge of the alleyway he had stepped into that ran parallel with the cobblestone main street. From his pocket, he produced his pistol and trained it on the gorgeous Juliet. He tried to remain out of sight of the other two women. He hissed her name, making sure she could see the firearm.

"You scream and you die. Now, lose your friends and come with me." He gestured towards the alleyway, his face a mask of threats and anger. The glint of the street lamp off of the barrel of his pistol startled Juliet, and she froze at first. Her heart stood still in her chest, and she went a little pale. For a moment, she thought that she might swoon, leaving herself to the dubious mercies of this rapacious man, but she managed to rally her senses and steel herself. "I..." Her lips felt stiff, and her voice came out as a bit of a nervous squeak. She cleared her throat, the sound soft in the dim light of the street.

"I believe I shall need to catch up with you, Lydia," she managed to tell her companion in a much stronger voice. "I've ... I've lost my glove in the dark and I must find it. It's my favorite." She moved to lean down, as if still trying to retrieve her glove. "He's gone now, hurry along. I'll be along in a moment, my dear." Her cousin was older than her, but that didn't stop Julia from addressing her in a slightly patronizing fashion. Once her hesitant cousin and their friend had moved along, Juliet straightened and drifted on graceful feet into the alleyway. Gone was his smiling face, gone was his charm. "I suppose you would like your money back," she murmured rather angrily, reaching for her handbag. What a cad.

The other two girls were swiftly on their way at her insistence and he was thankful for it. He only wanted one tonight, perhaps he would come back another evening for the others. She was the prize of the trio, to be sure, with her soft, feminine curves, tiny waist, and flaxen blond hair. The thought that she had enough resolve, steely determination, not to faint at the sight of a gun impressed Alexander, as he reached out and pulled her completely into the deserted, darkened alleyway.

He shook his head, knocking her purse away from her gloved hands and into a puddle of collected rain water.

"No, it is not money I am after tonight, my dear, but rather a conclusion to the game we started earlier. This time, the wager is your life."

His tone left little room for argument as he tossed her bodily against the crumbling brick wall of one of the buildings that lined the alley way, with enough force to jar her into compliance and believing his threats of violence were real.

"I do believe we were up to your skirt, yes? Strip off that outer layer, now, or I'll put a bullet between those lovely eyes of yours."

In her heart of hearts, she had hoped that her cousin and her friend would not abandon her, that they would insist on coming back this way. But no, they were used to Juliet's brash ways and they left with only a little bit of grumbling about her reputation. Oh, if they only knew. Malachite-colored eyes glanced almost frantically around her before they settled on him, seeming to abruptly lock on his gun. The frightened woman murmured, "Yes, yes, my skirt." But she didn't plead, didn't say much more in fact, not for the moment.

Instead, she draped her jacked back over her arm and reached behind her with shaking fingers, searching for the clasps of her voluminous skirt. One by one, she unfastened them, and bit by bit the tight, high waist of her voluminous skirt came loose. She fumbled around until all of the clasps were undone, then swallowed hard. It was impossible to slide the skirt off down her legs, not with the lacy, starched petticoats she wore underneath. Instead, she gathered the fabric in her hands and carefully pulled it upward, around her coiffed hair and off of her body. There she stood in her buttoned white blouse tucked into the topmost of three petticoats. Under the blouse was still a corset, under the skirts were still a pair of short, lacy bloomers and finely crocheted silken stockings. And boots, of course, side-laced and made of soft ivory leather. "And there you are," she whispered fearfully, bundling the skirt up in her hands and feeling dreadfully exposed.

Her voice was hardly a whisper, born of fear and it stirred his blood, as hot as it already was at the undressing strumpet before him. She was dreadfully exposed now, in a state that only her nanny or her husband should see her. But, no this was only the first boundary that was going to be crossed this evening and there was no stopping the momentum of his urges, his demands, now. He gestured with the gun towards a pile of broken down wooden crates.

"Put your things over there."

As they worked their way over to the spot, he could smell the faint scent of her perfume. He closed his eye momentarily, enjoying the softness of her figure and the lingering tinge of her embarrassment and humility that hung in those malachite orbs of hers. His smile returned but it was a darkened cousin of its previous one; the grin of the Cheshire cat, all knowing and demanding of things best left in the bodice rippers of the age or the drawing rooms of private estates.